Michigan growers are expecting to harvest record yields in sugarbeets, corn and soybeans this year.
In USDA’s crop production forecast Friday, sugarbeet production is expected to have a record year as well with farmers harvesting 31.5 tons per acre, up 2.2 tons from 2014. Total production is set at 4.76 million tons.
Michigan corn production was estimated at 341.52 million bushels, down more than 14 million bushels from last year. Average yields are projected at 167 bushels per acre, an all-time record and up 6 bushels from 2014. Harvested area is estimated at 2.05 million acres, a decrease of almost 200,000 acres from the previous year.
Soybeans are projected at 93.84 million bushels, more than 7 million bushes than in 2014. USDA forecasts an average yield of 46 bushels per acre, equaling a previous state record from 2006 and a three bushel increase from 2014. Harvested area is expected to total just over 2 million acres, unchanged from last year.
USDA projects dry bean growers to harvest 1,900 pounds per acre, down 40,000 pounds from the previous year. Increased dry bean acres are expected to bring the total production up 300,000 hundredweight to just over 5 million.
Source: www.brownfieldagnews.com